1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plotting and editing apparatus for use in plotting and editing applications. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a plotting and editing system for computer aided design systems.
2. Description of the Background Art
Various computer aided design tools and systems have been developed and utilized. These apparatuses, generically called CAD, support the plotting and editing of drawings. CADs permit easy plotting of drawings and are capable of storing the result of the plot and retrieving the stored contents of the plots for subsequent correction or editing.
One disadvantage of the conventional CAD apparatus is that when part of a drawing is to be corrected, that part must be plotted separately. This takes time and lowers the efficiency of plotting.
Another disadvantage is that when part of a previously plotted drawing needs to be corrected to create a new drawing with the conventional CAD apparatus, it takes considerable time and effort to search for the applicable drawing among the numerous drawings stored.
A further disadvantage with the conventional CAD apparatus is that it only supports plotting and the related operations and fails to address the applicability of the target object to be plotted. Illustratively, the conventional CAD apparatus is incapable of checking to determine if the plotted object is conducive to mass production. That is, if the plotted target object was unchecked and was actually produced, the process could turn out to be too costly, or the availability of necessary parts could be impracticably low.